An introduction to Buddhism: teachings, history and practices

Contents
Illustrations
Tables
Preface to the Second Edition, and Acknowledgements
A Note on Language and Pronunciation
Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Buddha and his Indian Context
	Background to the life of the Buddha
		Brahmanism
		The Sama&ndotbelow;as
	The life of the Buddha
		The renunciation and quest for awakening
		The awakening and after
		The first sermon and the spread of the teachings
		The Buddha’s charisma and powers
		The passing away of the Buddha
	The nature and role of the Buddha
	The nature and style of the Buddha’s teaching
Chapter 2 Early Buddhist Teachings: Rebirth and Karma
	Rebirth and cosmology
		The questions of a creator God and the origins of human life
		The implications of the rebirth perspective
	Karma
		Generating and sharing karmic fruitfulness or ‘merit’
	Belief in rebirth and karma
Chapter 3 Early Buddhist Teachings: The Four True Realities for the Spiritually Ennobled
	The first True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: the painful
		The five bundles of grasping-fuel: the factors of personality
		Phenomena as impermanent and non-Self
	The second True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: the origin of the painful
		Conditioned Arising
	The third True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: the cessation of the painful – Nirvā&ndotbelow;a
		Nirvā&ndotbelow;a during life
		The Arahat
		Nirvā&ndotbelow;a beyond death
		Nirvā&ndotbelow;a as an object of insight
	The Fourth True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: The Path to the Cessation of the Painful
Chapter 4 Early Developments in Buddhism
	The early Sa&ndotabove;gha
	The Abhidhamma
	The early schools and their doctrines
	The three aspirations, Jātakas and Avadānas
	Emperor Asoka and Buddhism
	Devotion and symbolism in early Buddhism
	The rise of the Mahāyāna
		The nature of the Mahāyāna and its attitude to earlier schools
Chapter 5 Mahāyāna Philosophies: The Varieties of Emptiness
	The Perfection of Wisdom literature and the Mādhyamika school
		Sources and writers
		The Śūnyatāvādin orientation
		Empty dharmas and Conditioned Arising
		Conventional truth and language
		Emptiness
		Skilful means and the transcending of views
		Ultimate truth and thusness
		Nirvā&ndotbelow;a and sa&mdotbelow;sāra
		Self-emptiness and other-emptiness
	The Yogācāra school
		Sources and writers
		The Yogācāra orientation
		The Yogācāra and the Mādhyamika views of each other
		The Yogācāra view of the role and nature of consciousness
		The world as ‘thought-only’
		The three natures
		The Yogācāra path and goal
		Purity and defilement
	Tathāgata-garbha thought
		Tathāgata-garbha sources
		The Tathāgata-garbha
		The Tathāgata-garbha and the defilements
		Tathāgata-garbha thought in relation to the Mādhyamika and Yogācāra
		The Tathāgata-garbha and the self-emptiness versus other-emptiness debate
		East Asian developments
	The Avata&mdotbelow;saka sūtra and the Huayan school
	A comparative overview of Mahāyāna philosophies and their ideas of ‘emptiness’
Chapter 6 Mahāyāna Holy Beings, and Tantric Buddhism
	The Path of the Bodhisattva
		Wisdom, compassion and skilful means
		The perfections and stages of the Bodhisattva
	Mahayana Buddhology: Expansion with Regard to the Number, Location, Life-Span and Nature of Buddhas
		Pure Lands and other Buddha-fields
		The huge life-span of Buddhas
		The Trikāya doctrine
	The Mahāyāna Pantheon
	The Tantric Perspective
		The Mantranaya and the origin of tantric Buddhism
		The phases of tantric texts, and the Vajrayāna
		Tantric deities and adepts
		Features of tantric Buddhism
Chapter 7 The Later History and Spread of Buddhism
	India and Central Asia
	La&ndotabove;kā
	South-East Asia Excluding Vietnam
		Yogāvacara: esoteric Southern Buddhism
	The Lands of Northern Buddhism
	China
		Early history
		The schools of Chinese Buddhism
		The Pure Land schoolhairsp
		The Chan school
		Later history
	Vietnam and Korea
	Japan
		Early history
		The Pure Land schools
		The Zen schools
		The Nichiren school
		Later history
	Overview and Comparative Reflections
Chapter 8 Buddhist Practice: Devotion
	Focuses and Locations of Devotional Acts
	Bowing, Offerings and Chanting
	The Refuges
	Attitudes to Images
	Protective Chanting
	Some Mahāyāna Focuses of Devotion
		Avalokiteśvara
		Amitabhā
		Bhai&sdotbelow;ajya-Guru
		The Lotus Sūtra
	Pilgrimage
	Festivals
Chapter 9 Buddhist Practice: Ethics
	The Role and Basis of Ethics in Buddhism
	Giving
	Keeping the Precepts
		The first precept
		The other precepts
		The positive implications of the precepts
		Taking extra precepts
	Lovingkindness and Compassion
	Care for the Dying and the Dead
	The Ethics of Social Relationships
Chapter 10 Buddhist Practice: The Sa&ndotabove ;gha
	The Role of Monasticism
	The Monastic Code of Discipline
	Patterns and Types of Ordination
	Nuns
	The Economic Base of the Monastic Life
	Study and Meditation
		Study
		The meditative life
	Communal Life
	Relations with the Laity
Chapter 11 Buddhist Practice: Meditation and Cultivation of Experience-Based Wisdom
	The Approach to Meditation
	Qualities to be Developed by Meditation
		Samatha and vipassanā
	Approaches Beginning with Samatha in Southern Buddhism
		Lovingkindness meditation
		Mindfulness of breathing
		The five hindrances and access concentration
		The jhānas and formless attainments
		Cessation and the higher knowledges
	The Contributions of Samatha and Vipassanā Meditation in Southern Buddhism
	Approaches Beginning with Vipassanā in Southern Buddhism
		Investigation of the ‘three marks’
		Some recent methods of vipassanā practice
		The seven stages of purification
	The Classical Path of Śamatha and vipaśyanā in Northern and Eastern Buddhism
	Pure Land Visualizations
	Tantric Visualizations
		Mantras, mudrās and the yidam
		Ma&ndotbelow;&ddotbelow;alas
		Visualizations
		The cakras and The ‘Six Yogas of Nāropa’
		Sexual yoga
	Tantric Techniques of Spontaneity
		Mahāmudrā
		Dzogch’en
	Zen Meditation
		Just Sitting
		No-thought
		Spontaneity and discipline
		Kōan meditation
		Kenshō
		Sudden awakenings
		Zen in action: straightforward mind at all times
		The meditative arts of Zen
Chapter 12 The Modern History of Buddhism in Asia
	Southern Buddhism
		Sri Lanka
		Thailand
		Burmathinsp
		Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Yunnan
		India, Bangladesh and Nepal
		Malaysia and Indonesia
	Eastern Buddhism
		Japan
		The People’s Republic of China
		Taiwan
		Vietnam
		Korea
		Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines
	Northern Buddhism
		Tibet
		The Tibetan diaspora in Indiathinsp
		Mongolia and related regions
		Bhutan, northern India and Nepal
Chapter 13 Buddhism Beyond Asia
	The Early Influence of Buddhism Through Literature, Philosophy and Psychology
	The Theosophical Society: a bridge between east and west
	Scholarship
	The Internet, Films and Music
	Immigration
	Categories of Buddhists, and their Characteristics and Numbers
	Buddhist Missions and Organizations
		The USA
		Canadathinsp
		The United Kingdom and Ireland
		Continental Europe
		Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Africa and Israel
Appendix I. Canons of Scriptures
Appendix II„ Web Resources
	General links and resources
	Free online journals and e-texts of print journals
	Southern Buddhism
	General Mahāyāna, especially texts
	Northern Buddhism
	Eastern Buddhism
	Other organizations
Bibliography
Index